Change IMAP Trash Folder in Mozilla Thunderbird

Changing the IMAP Trash Folder

By default Thunderbird (and the Mozilla Suite) assume that your Trash folder is called "Trash" and not some other name, such as "Deleted Items". This can sometimes be a problem with IMAP accounts, if your IMAP server uses a different name for the dedicated Trash folder. In such cases, Thunderbird will likely create its own Trash folder (named "Trash"), while your mail server will still be using the other folder (e.g., "Deleted Items"), and you may see both at the same time in the Thunderbird folders pane.

To specify a different Trash folder for an IMAP account in Thunderbird:

1. Completely exit Thunderbird if it is running. If you make changes to the files outlined below while Thunderbird is running, they will be overwritten when you close Thunderbird.

2. Make a temporary backup copy of your profile folder (/home/<username>/.thunderbird/<randomstring>.default/) (or at least these files inside it: prefs.js and, if it exists, user.js).

3. Open your prefs.js file with a text editor such as vim or nano to find the server# used to represent your IMAP account. It could be server2, server5, server7, or some other number depending on your own individual account setup. Look for a line similar to this, corresponding to your own IMAP acccount:

user_pref("mail.server.server2.hostname", "mail.YourImapProvider.com");

4. Insert a line like the following into user.js (create it if it does not exist), with the correct server# and correct name for the Trash folder:

 user_pref("mail.server.server#.trash_folder_name", "<correct Trash name>");

For example:

 user_pref("mail.server.server2.trash_folder_name", "Deleted Items");

If you want to use "Gelöscht" (German for Trash) you would have to write it in the user_pref as "Gel&APY-scht", since the German Umlaute has to be encoded differently.

5. Restart Thunderbird. You should now see the new Trash folder (e.g., "Deleted Items") showing the trash can icon. (If not, exit and restart Thunderbird.) If the old Trash folder is still showing, you should now be able to delete it. If you can't delete it through Thunderbird, then delete it though the account's webmail interface.

6. If you deleted the Trash folder in the web frontend of your mail provider, you may need to cancel the IMAP folder subscriptions, too. It may take a while for the subscription changes to take effect.